Reciprocal Relations Between Intra-Year Changes in Peer Victimization and Problem Behavior during Middle School

Introduction: Although peer victimization has been linked to a host of problem behaviors among adolescents, the evidence is less clear regarding the direction of these relations. Because researchers typically measure peer victimization and problem behavior in the fall and/or spring, there is limited knowledge on how these constructs covary across different seasons. The current study tested bidirectional relations between peer victimization and problem behaviors, including physical and relational aggression, delinquency, and drug use. We also investigated whether the effects differed by type of aggression (i.e., physical or relational), gender, grade, or season.

Method: Data were collected four times a year (i.e., fall, winter, spring, summer) from 1,510 students from all three grades in three urban middle schools. The sample was approximately 46% male, 91% African American, and ranged in age from 11 to 16 years old. Participants completed the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale.

Results: Cross-lagged path models using robust estimates indicated that victimization at the start of the school year (i.e., fall) predicted changes in both forms of aggression, delinquent behavior and drug use at the end of the school year (i.e., spring). In contrast, aggression, delinquent behavior and drug use at the start of the school year did not predict changes in victimization at the end of the school year. The effects of victimization were not stronger for physical or relational aggression and did not differ by gender or across the three grades of middle school. However, time of year did have an effect on the findings. Specifically, physical aggression assessed during the winter predicted changes in peer victimization during the summer. Victimization at the winter time period continued to predict changes for all forms of problem behavior during the summer.

Discussion: The findings suggest that adolescents who are peer victimized at the beginning of the school year are at a greater risk of exhibiting problem behavior by the end of the school year. Support was found for reciprocal relations between the winter and summer waves, but not between the fall and spring waves. This underscores the need for intervention efforts tailored towards peer victimization to reduce its impact on other maladaptive behavior. The findings also suggest that future research must take seasonal variation into account when investigating the relations between peer victimization and problem behavior.